There was this homeless couple that I lived with in Galveston. Well, they were homeless until they moved in. I wish I could say that my motives were purely to care for them and help them get on their feet, but what I really wanted at that time was to avoid the problems in my own life and take on the problems of someone else. I wanted to fix them. I felt a sense of duty and responsibility for them, and would "hide" them from other people so that they wouldn't stick their hands in my cookie jar. I wanted to be the hero, the savior. After two years of trying to be their solution and trying everything I could to make them change, I hit rock bottom. After hurricane Ike came, I moved back home and they found a house for themselves. They were getting on their feet, and I was barely making it. Yet, they weren't living up to my distorted standards. I kept seeing them as the homeless people who needed someone to fix them. Even though they had their own place, were starting a family, and becoming self-supporting, I wanted them to do what I thought was best for them. It did not work. After I ran out of ways to fix them, and became convinced they weren't going to listen to me, I got outside help. I got other people to help me fix them. The man and woman were confident enough that they could be self-supporting, but I thought otherwise. I was convinced that the man was taking pills and endangering their newborn baby.
As a result, I was the ringleader in taking the steps to call CPS to report the man's "bad" behavior, even though it wasn't proven. I was also the ringleader in taking back the vehicle that had previously been given to him. It was bad. The last time I talked to the woman was on the phone. I had called her two weeks later to see how they were doing. What I heard was not what I expected at all, but why shouldn't I have expected it? I was playing God. She was hysterical. She couldn't believe that the CPS were called, and she said that they found nothing that would place the baby in danger. She had thought we were friends, but I had become their enemy.
To this day, this memory creates a lot of remorse. I wish there was something I could do to fix it. There is, but I just have to take the right steps to get there. I need to find them first, and then arrange to meet them if they allow it. I have wronged them, and I want to straighten it out the best I can.
In today's passage for Lent, we start where Jesus and the Samaritan woman are finishing up their conversation. The disciples get back from H.E.B, and they show up, shocked that Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman. I guess they hadn't learned by now that Jesus doesn't show an ounce of favoritism. Trying to change the subject, they try to get Jesus to eat the food they've purchased, but he's not having it. He says, "I have food you guys know nothing about. I sustain myself off of doing the will of the One who sent me."
The disciples are like, "What are you talking about, dude?"
Jesus says, "You see these fields out here? In about four months, they'll be ready for harvest. The Harvester is gathering up all the good grain that's ripe for eternal life. The Sower and the Harvester are arm in arm, gathering up a harvest. If you guys would just look around, you'd notice that everywhere around you is grain ripe for harvest. In fact, you've been given the opportunity to harvest but haven't even had to lift a finger to do so. The Harvester's been working at it long before you got here."
When I crossed paths with the homeless man and woman, I believed I was the Harvester. I did not take into consideration that God had already been working on them long before I ever showed up. As a result, I made the situation worse. Because of that situation, I've learned to look at other people as God's children and not my mission projects.
Jesus proposes God is working on all of us, regardless of what belief system or creed, race, or educational background. He proposes that we're either ripe for harvest, or becoming ripe for harvest. He says to look around and notice the fields that are shining in the sunlight.
I believe there's not one of us whom God is not preparing for harvest a.k.a. life to the fullest. I also believe that each of us gets to take part in the harvest of others, playing a small role in cultivating the people around us. We are being cultivated by God, and at the same time get to help cultivate the folks around us. No one is left out on this work, but all of us get to decide if we want to take part in it or not.
Are there any people in our lives who we need to take a step back from and quit trying to be the hero with?
How are we being cultivated by God right now?
Who do we need to help cultivate today?
As we go into the world today, may we remember that we are working for the Harvester and not the other way around. My we take a look around and notice the fields around us. May we remember that long before we ever got to where we're going, God started a great work and has accomplished way more than we know about. May we let go of our selfish egos that tell us we have what it takes to fix other people, and instead let our cultivation of others be a product of God's cultivation in us.
No comments:
Post a Comment